THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

IN AMERICA

WEBQUEST

Mr. Coriale

Whitesboro High School

acoria@wboro.org

Problem: African-Americans being denied equal rights prior to 1964.

Policy: Civil Rights Act of 1964

"The best way to solve any problem is to remove its cause."

-Martin Luther King, Jr., 1964

INTRODUCTION

Over the course of American history various minority groups have been denied equality. African-Americans have long been denied equal rights, especially since the end of the Reconstruction. In 1865, the American Civil War came to end. Slavery was officially abolished with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in December 1865. Shortly after this began the period known as Reconstruction (1865-1877), a time when African-Americans gained rights of citizenship through the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) and African-American males were granted the right of suffrage through the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870). When Reconstruction ended in the American South in 1877, slowly the rights and freedoms given to African-Americans were denied through the adoption of the Jim Crows laws, the literacy test, poll tax, and the grandfather clause among other actions. In 1896, the United States Supreme Court legally supported the denial of equal rights to African-Americans in ruling that “separate but equal” is constitutional in the case of Plessey v. Ferguson. For the next half century, African-Americans worked toward ending this social injustice.

TASK

You will meet in groups of four to discuss the social problems caused by denying rights

to African-Americans and the actions taken by the federal government in response to this

issue. You will create a “newscast” describing the problems you found at your selected event and the policy (ies) that was (were) enacted. You are to examine the success of the policy (ies) adopted.

PROCESS/ RESOURCES

1. You will be assigned a specific event from the Civil Rights era and in your group you are to take on one of the following roles:

Newscaster (1): Will lead the newscast presentation, write a script, and assist in conducting research on the story. The Newscaster will also assist other group members in completing their tasks

News Reporter (2): Will research the story by examining websites on the topic,

write a script. Present a news story from the event describing the problem and policy adopted

Editor (1): This individual will lead the organization of the newscast

and coordinate the information to be presented. The editor will maintain all research materials for the group’s use

Each of you will actively participate in the development of the “background sets” for the newscast using PowerPoint or some other creative idea for a set. It should include graphics and sound. You will all also collaborate and create one 30-second advertisement from the year of your event.

The events from the Civil Rights Era you will be assigned include one of the following:

·

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

· Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)

· Little Rock Central High School (1957)

· Woolworth’s Sit-in (1960)

· March on Birmingham, Alabama (1963)

· March on Washington, D.C. (1963)

· Civil Rights Act of 1964 Signing (1964)

(Images Source: https://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=civil%20rights%20images&safe=active&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi )

2. You are to use the four-step American History Public Policy Analyst (AHPPA) to complete the above task and incorporate these finding in your newscast. Every group member will use the text and websites listed below to complete the information on each of the four worksheets. Your newscast should include images from the Internet, with proper citation, that represent the event of your newscast. Each group’s newscast will be limited to five minutes including one 30-second advertisement. You will be graded by the rubric listed below.

3. Your newscast should show evidence of discrimination, racism, and violence associated with your assigned event. Your evidence needs to demonstrate that this problem existed in the United States South and determine its causes and effects. You must also discuss the proposed possible public policy solutions. You need to follow the four steps of the AHPPA in your newscast/ research.

4. Each group will create a graphic organizer (SEE BELOW FOR EXAMPLE) for all of the steps of your research according to the steps of American History Public Policy Analysis (AHPPA). Each organizer will show the information gathered in the PPA worksheets. This should assist you in writing your newscast script.

5. Every group needs to complete and submit the following AHPPA worksheets, which are hyperlinked below:

Identify the Problem - Worksheet #1
Gather Evidence - Worksheet #2
Determine Causes - Worksheet #3
Evaluate the Policy - Worksheet #4

6. You need to use the TIPS AHPPA worksheets as a guide to your graphic organizer and as a way to analyze the problem.

7. BEFORE the newscast is done all graphic organizers, worksheets, scripts,

background sets, etc. need to be submitted to me at least TWO (2) DAYS BEFORE conducting the newscast.

Sources:

Be sure to check the following links prior to examining the websites below or your own websites.

LINKS: Website Evaluation

Internet Search Engines

Citation Information

EVALUATION

Below is a rubric that I will use to grade your completed web quest. You are expected to review this rubric prior to and throughout the creation of your newscast.

	4	3	2	1	0	Total
Level of Involvement	All members within the group are performing the task and are actively involved. The group consistently stays focused on the task and what needs to be done. Very self-directed.	All but one member within the group are performing the task and are actively involved. All but one member focuses on the task and what needs to be done most of the time.	More than half of the group are not performing the task and are not actively involved. More than half of the group members must sometimes be reminded to stay on task.	Only one group member is performing the task and actively involved. All other group members must be constantly reminded to stay on task.	None of the group members are performing the task or actively involved. The activity is not done.	_____/ 4
Completed Graphic Organizer	The organizer is completely and accurately done.	For the most part, the organizer is completely and/ or accurately done with the exception of one error.	Only half of the organizer is completed and/ or contained three or less errors.	The majority of the organizer is not complete and/ or contained more than four errors.	The organizer is not complete.	_____/ 4
Writing	The script is well written and researched, is historically accurate, contains no grammatical/ spelling errors, has correct citations, and/ or contains a higher level of vocabulary.	The script is well written and researched for the most part, has only two or less historical inaccuracies, contains two or less grammatical/ spelling errors, has correct citations with only two or less errors, and/ or has some higher level vocabulary.	The script is only averagely written and researched, has three or more historical inaccuracies, contains five or less grammatical/ spelling errors, has three or more errors in citation, and/ or has average vocabulary.	The script is poorly written and researched and, is historically inaccurate, contains more than six grammatical/ spelling errors, has no citation, and/ or has a poor choice of vocabulary.	The script is not written.	_____/ 4
Presentation (Newscast & Advertisement)	The presentation exceeds the requirements, demonstrates a thorough understanding of the content is well rehearsed and organized, makes excellent use of the technology available, and demonstrates the group’s full potential.	The presentation meets the requirements, demonstrates a good understanding of the content, is well rehearsed and organized for the most part, uses some of the technology available, and demonstrates the group has some potential.	The presentation meets the requirements with the exception of one of the elements, demonstrates an average understanding of the content, is not well rehearsed and organized, uses only limited technology, demonstrates limited group potential.	The presentation did not meet two or more of the requirements, demonstrates little or no understanding of the content, is not rehearsed and organized, uses no technology available, and demonstrates no group potential.	The presentation was not done.	_____/ 4
Completed On Time	All aspects of the activity are completed on time.	All but one of the aspects of the activity is completed on time.	Two or more of the aspects of the activity are not completed on time.	The activity was completed more than two days beyond the due date.	The activity is not done.	_____/ 4

TOTAL _______/ 20 x 5 = ________

CONCLUSION

When you have finished this web quest, you will be able to:

ü Identify and discuss how minority groups, such as African-Americans, were denied equality since the end of Reconstruction

ü Discuss the social problems caused by denying rights to African-Americans

ü Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the federal government’s response to the issue of African-American equality

NEW YORK STATE LEARNING STANDARDS

(Source: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/standards.html)

SOCIAL STUDIES

Standard 1: History of the United States and New York

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 2: Language for Literary Response and Expression

Students will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances from American and world literature; relate texts and performances to their own lives; and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent. As speakers and writers, students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for self-expression and artistic creation.

Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a
variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.

MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, & TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

Standard 5: Technology

Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs.

Standard 6: Interconnectedness: Common Themes

Students will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning.

Standard 7: Interdisciplinary Problem Solving

Students will apply the knowledge and thinking skills of mathematics, science, and technology to address real-life problems and make informed decisions.

NEWSCAST SCRIPT GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Group Members: _________________________ Social Problem:

_________________________

_________________________ ________________________

_________________________

Assigned Event: _________________________ Time Period: ____________